New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is teaming up with an unlikely group of colleagues to push for more federal support of medical marijuana.
Gillibrand is one of three senators introducing a bill that would scale back federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized medicinal or recreational pot.
She is co-sponsoring the bill with a fellow Democrat from New Jersey, Sen. Corey Booker, and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. They introduced the legislation Tuesday at a press conference in Washington.
Gillibrand has worked with Paul, a Tea Party favorite with a Libertarian streak before. Their CARERS bill would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug, from Schedule 1. The lower rating acknowledges medical uses for marijuana and opens it up to academic research.
"The government should not prevent doctors from prescribing medicine that has been shown to work" Gillibrand said.
The bill also changes federal policy and frees states up to set their own medical marijuana laws. And it scales back federal enforcement of marijuana, giving patients the freedom to use it without fear of persecution, Gillibrand said.
"I think the science must be allowed to speak for itself and these patients need this medicine. It’s outrageous that (they are) not allowed to take it," she said. "It’s outrageous that any parent should be worried about social services knocking on their door because they’re giving their child the medicine the doctor says the child needs."
The law would allow states to import a specific type of medicinal marijuana that is affective at treating epilepsy but has low traces of THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its psychoactive affect.
New York is one of 23 states that have approved medical marijuana. But New York’s program is one of the most tightly controlled and has a long rollout. Gillibrand says she’s reached out to the Attorney General to grant waivers to some New Yorkers so they can begin using medicinal marijuana sooner.
"Individual state programs will never succeed until they're supported at the federal level," said Kate Hintz at the press conference. Hintz is from North Salem, New York and has a four-year-old daughter with a rare form of epilepsy.
Polls show support for the drug’s medical use is increasing.
